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Water Movement
Water Movement is an intermediate mode by which units move in combat. * Ground Movement * Water Movement * Air Movement Water Movement rules take effect during battles on Shore and Ocean map squares, for units that possess it. The game's naval vessels (the ones that don't fly, anyway) are ; they are permanently bound to sea squares as soon as they leave port, and may enter combat with enemies on open water. Other units which have , a Movement Type available through various sources, are able to wage battle on land or sea. Both types of units use Water Movement in sea battles. The other baseline rules are: * Units with Ground Movement cannot move in the sea battlescape. * Units with Air Movement get to retain it no matter where they fight. In spite of its association with combat, the wavy icon can be useful for referencing a unit's base Movement Allowance, meanwhile emphasizing that the unit is seaworthy. Combat Terrain The sea battlescape consists entirely of uniform water tiles. Effects Overview The table below outlines the interactions Unit Abilities and spell effects have with in combat. Transports in Combat Naval vessels have a tendency to complicate the rules, both in their technical (but violable) restriction to Ocean and Shore tiles and their role as Transports. To summarize their effects in tandem with the information in the chart above: Any transported units that do not have , , or cannot take part in ocean battle. If, after suffering battle losses, the total Transport Capacity of the stack is insufficient to carry the units in the stack, any excess units will Drown. The Floating Island spell creates an exception to this behavior: the island itself does not appear in combat at all, while the units it carries appear but cannot move (but may still attack, if they have ranged attacks or a unit moves adjacent to them). While and units may default to Ground Movement as circumstances dictate, ships cannot. In rare cases sailing units may be attacked on land, such as in the port where they were constructed, or when they were flying overland but had their enchantment dismissed. In port, they will simply not appear for the battle. Overland, they will appear in battle, but immobilized (like walkers trapped in water, they can still hurl their and attack adjacent foes). They may appear in any combat, and mobile to boot, if they obtain the ability to (the lynchpin of the Flying Invisible Warships strategy). Any Wind Walking unit is effectively a Transport as well. The wind-walker and all its allies will enter open water combat, but only the ones will be able to move. The most prominent recurring victim of this mechanic is Jaer the Wind Mage, who cannot move in water combat since beneath his Wind Walking ability, he is just a . Availability This Movement Type guarantees in combat, and is made generally available to units through one Common spell, a Rare spell, and their related Item Powers for heroes' equipment: * Water Walking and Water Walking (Item Power) * Wraith Form and Wraithform (Item Power) A total of 7 normal units (all Lizardmen) and 1 fantastic unit are natural : * Lizardmen Settlers * Lizardmen Spearmen * Lizardmen Swordsmen * Lizardmen Halberdiers * Lizardmen Shamans * Javelineers * Dragon Turtle * Nagas Additionally, 4 more fantastic units obtain Water Movement solely through their Non-Corporeal ability: * Magic Spirit * Guardian Spirit * Phantom Warriors * Phantom Beast Two other fantastic units, Shadow Demons and Wraiths, are both Flying and Non-Corporeal, so they need never adopt Water Movement. Unsurprisingly, the innate Movement Type of most ship designs. There are exactly 3 vessels in the game: * Trireme * Galley * Warship The Floating Island also has movement on the overland map, but cannot appear in combat. Merging / Teleporting Units Two Walking units gain the ability to move around in sea combat on account of these abilities: * Unicorns * Great Wyrm The only other teleporting unit, the Djinn, is a Flying unit already. Category:Unit Movement